Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 06/18/2026 11:10:37 AM PDT by Red Badger
When I showed up for Army basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, back in those long-lost days of the Cold War, one of the first things I learned, along with my fellows, was that no matter what we ended up doing in the Army, we were riflemen first and foremost. That lesson wasn't lost on us; not with the emphasis placed on basic rifle marksmanship. A few years later, I ended up teaching basic rifle marksmanship to ROTC cadets, and that was the lesson I tried to instill in them, as well.
Back then, we were using the good old M-16A1 rifle, and it was, at the time, considered a pretty cutting-edge weapon. Now, though, the Army is moving to the M7 rifle, newer still, and those rifles are getting something else: A cutting-edge laser to go along with the Army's night-vision gear.
The U.S. Army ordered 8,936 DAGIR-V1 laser systems to support the M7 rifle’s fire-control program, and the company building them happens to be a family-owned business that got its start making night vision gear five decades ago. B.E. Meyers & Co., a Redmond, Washington manufacturer, announced it has been awarded a contract to deliver the systems in fiscal year 2027, awarded through the service’s Program Manager Soldier Lethality office under the DLA Tailored Logistics Support Program.
Here's how those things work:
Understanding what the DAGIR-V1 actually does requires understanding the basic problem soldiers face fighting at night, which has shaped infantry tactics since night vision goggles became standard issue decades ago. A soldier wearing night vision can see in the dark, but aiming a rifle precisely still requires some way to mark exactly where the weapon is pointed, since standard rifle sights are difficult or impossible to use through night vision optics.
The DAGIR-V1 solves that by combining an infrared illuminator, which floods a wide area with infrared light invisible to the naked eye but clearly visible through night vision, with both infrared and visible aiming lasers mounted directly on the weapon, letting a soldier point the laser dot at a target and fire with confidence that the rifle is aimed where the dot lands. The system uses what’s called VCSEL technology, short for vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser, a more advanced and precise alternative to older laser diode designs that B.E. Meyers says produces a sharper, more consistently shaped beam than older laser aiming devices, improving a soldier’s ability to identify targets and assess threats in low light or total darkness.
Watch:
VIDEO AT LINK..................
There's a serious "cool" factor to all this, obviously. But I always have the same old-soldier's question about all this: What happens when the tech fails? Technology is, yes, a great force multiplier; we've had a recent and compelling lesson in that in the recent fracas with Iran. But tech is limited, especially when it's mounted on an individual weapon like a rifle. Batteries, after all, don't last forever. But there's one thing that never will fail that soldier who is a rifleman first: Basic marksmanship skills. Proficiency with a weapon should always mean, above all things, proficiency with iron sights and a Mark I eyeball, even at night. These things will never fail due to a bad battery - or an electromagnetic pulse.
Every soldier is a rifleman first. I will admit to being a recent convert to some optical sights myself, as my eyes are aging; my favorite heavy-cover rifle, a Marlin 1895G in .45-70, now wears a red-dot optic in addition to the old ghost-ring rear and ramp front I installed years ago. But a young soldier should be able to engage and destroy the enemy without any fancy electronics; while things like this new laser are cool and no doubt useful, let's not let it replace good old basic marksmanship.
|
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
Wouldn’t IR light and lasers immediately give away one’s position to anyone with a rudimentary IR camera?
After that, a laser system becomes target designator pointed directly you.
Didn’t we learn, once upon a time, that IR optics can be tracked back to their source?
Yep.............
Look out for something with an IR-finding seeker on it.
>>Didn’t we learn, once upon a time, that IR optics can be tracked back to their source?
Apparently, we did not learn that.
Point your cell-phone camera at the diode on your TV remote. Push some buttons. See what happens.
The problem with this battle rifle seems to be the weight to me. Fully loaded it’s nearly two pounds heavier than the greatest rifle ever made, the M1 Garand.
Note ... some cameras have IR cut filters. Most cell phones and pocket cameras do not.
And that it would be very easy to have a mini-drone with an explosive that would follow the beam back to the source.
It’s also less accurate than a Kalashnikov.
M7 uses 6.8 mm ?
.
I like it as .223/5.56 should
Get Cheaper Still !
.
Garande/M14/M21/M1A is Less
Accurate than an AK ?
.
A BS.
.
Our Military Designated the .308 M21 as
A Sniper Rifle for Vietnam.
Awsome Take Down at 700/800 yds when
Tuned Up Amigo.
I hate to admit that I had my basic with an M1 rifle. They were a lot heavier than M16s, and I never heard of an M4 until much later in life.
I took the comment to read that the new M-7 is less accurate than a Kalashnikov. Not the Garand being less accurate than a Kalashnikov.
6.8 round?
.
I find that harder to believe !
I’ve no experience with 6.8 or 7.62x39.
.
I’m Meat and Potatoes ....
Glad to learn though.
HAD ???
.
Just pulled mine from The Moth balls and
Ready to Dress it up to a Clone M21.
.
That Photo has a Giggle Switch 😃
Mine Don’t have No switches.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.